Trump’s high-stakes Iran meeting ends without a deal

International

DESPITE signs of progress in backchannel diplomacy, the United States and Iran remained short of a formal agreement on Friday after President Donald Trump’s much-anticipated review of a ceasefire framework ended without a public outcome.

Trump met with senior advisers in the White House Situation Room to consider whether to endorse a proposed framework that would extend the current ceasefire and pave the way for discussions on Tehran’s nuclear programme. The meeting concluded without any announcement on whether the proposal would move forward.

According to US officials, negotiators from both sides reached a memorandum of understanding on Thursday that still requires approval from Trump and Iran’s leadership. The proposed framework would extend the ceasefire by 60 days while initiating talks on the future of Iran’s nuclear activities.

According to a BBC report, a White House official said Trump would only support a deal that meets US conditions, stating, “President Trump will only make a deal that is good for America and satisfies his redlines. Iran can never possess a nuclear weapon.”

Ahead of the meeting, Trump outlined several conditions he said Iran must accept, including commitments on nuclear restrictions, shipping access through the Strait of Hormuz, and the handling of enriched uranium stockpiles.

Despite earlier signals of progress, Iran publicly rejected claims that nuclear negotiations were underway.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Iran was “focused on ending the war, and there are no negotiations on the nuclear issue”.

The dispute highlights the central sticking point in talks. The United States insists Iran must halt uranium enrichment and dismantle its stockpile, arguing it could enable weapons development. Iran maintains its nuclear programme is peaceful.

US Vice-President JD Vance said negotiators remained engaged and were still working through unresolved issues, particularly around uranium enrichment, while expressing cautious optimism that progress was continuing even if final agreement had not yet been reached.

Iran’s chief negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf took a cautious stance, saying Tehran would only respond to actions rather than promises and stressing that no steps would be taken unless the other side acted first. He also warned that any agreement would ultimately depend on which side was better prepared for the aftermath of conflict.

The diplomatic push follows months of conflict after US and Israeli strikes on Iran in February, which triggered retaliation and disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

Although a ceasefire is in place, tensions remain high, with both sides accusing each other of violations, including Iran’s reported strike on a US air base in Kuwait, which Washington condemned as a serious breach of the truce.(MyTVCebu)